The men's lacrosse team begins every season with one goal in mind — winning the Ivy League Championship. To this end the Tigers play the strongest teams in the country outside of the conference, preparing them not only for the Ivy regular season, but also to gain valuable experience for the NCAA tournament.
This weekend, at 1952 Stadium, Princeton (8-2 overall, 5-0 Ivy League) accomplished its main goal, dispatching No. 7 Cornell, 9-5, to claim at least a tie for its sixth consecutive Ivy title Saturday. Yesterday, however, the No. 4 Tigers learned the hard way that they are not among the best in the nation, falling 16-4 at the hands of the No. 2 Syracuse Orangemen.
While the Tigers cleared the lower hurdle with relative ease, they fell flat against Syracuse (10-1) in the game with national importance.
"Sorry to ruin your Easter," head coach Bill Tierney quipped to reporters after the game.
Leading up to this Easter weekend doubleheader, the Tigers prepared only for their Ivy foes from Ithaca, N.Y. To beat Cornell (8-3, 4-1), the Tigers focused their defense on stopping Big Red attackman Sean Steinwald, who entered the game second in the nation in goals per game with 3.33.
"The defense made them take some shots that were easy for [junior goalie] Trevor [Tierney]," coach Tierney said. "We just played real solidly back there — our goal was to stop Steinwald."
Coach Tierney gave the tough assignment of guarding Steinwald to freshman defenseman Damien Davis. Against Steinwald, he continued his solid play. Davis blanketed the Big Red attackman, denying him the ball and punishing him when he did gain possession. By the fourth quarter, Steinwald had become tentative and seemed to want no part of Davis' physical play.
The rest of Princeton's defense – including longsticks junior Ryan Mollett, sophomore Scott Farrell, senior Armand Graham and freshman Brian Lieberman — shut down the rest of the Big Red attack, holding the visitors scoreless for a 43-minute stretch.
Offensively, the Tigers spread the wealth. Eight different players scored Princeton's first eight goals while freshman attackman Sean Hartofilis added his second of the game late in the fourth quarter.
The victory against Cornell turned out to be a Pyrrhic one for Princeton as the team lost its leading goal scorer and a top defender to injuries.
Perhaps the biggest moment of the Cornell game occurred late in the first quarter. Sophomore attackman B.J. Prager — the Tigers leading goal scorer this season —was riding the Big Red goaltender on a clear attempt when his foot seemed to catch in the artificial turf, twisting his leg in an awkward fashion. Prager suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee and will miss the remainder of the season. Lieberman also went down with an injury in the first half — this one a separated shoulder — and will be out of action for at least four weeks.
Wounded, but triumphant, Princeton spent Saturday evening preparing for the Orangemen. With the Ivy title in hand, the Tigers had a chance to demonstrate that they were among the top two teams in the nation. Against the Orangemen, however, the Tigers dropped the ball.
Syracuse simply dominated Princeton in all aspects of the game. The Orangemen outshot the Tigers 44-27, had a massive 42-17 ground ball advantage and controlled 19 of 24 faceoffs. Syracuse was able to run up the score on the weary Princeton team, in part, because Orangemen midfielder Chris Cercy was so dominant on draws, allowing the visitors to maintain possession without giving the Tigers a chance to rally.
Run-and-gun
Syracuse's fast-paced offense dismantled a sloppy Tiger defense. On more than one occasion, Davis failed to clear a loose ball in front of the cage, allowing his opponents a pair of easy goals. The vast majority of the Orangemen's goals, however, were the result of a succession of quick, precise passes. The rapidity of the passes was a direct challenge to a Princeton defense that favors quick slides and double teams.
Against lesser teams, this defense forces turnovers, errant passes and forced shots from the player with the ball. These tactics also leave players open on the far side of the defense, which is usually not a problem, since most opponents are not able to move the ball that quickly.
The Orangemen, as the Tigers found out, are not like most opponents. Syracuse midfielder Michael Springer scored five goals, most from point-blank range, while attackman Ryan Powell orchestrated the offense, finishing with six assists.
Trevor Tierney was the lone bright spot for the Tigers on an otherwise bleak, chilly afternoon. Despite being peppered from all angles, Tierney managed 20 saves in 57 minutes played.
"We're not going to make any excuses, and we're going to get better," coach Tierney said. "It seems like we're still a player or two away from being competent enough to go with these guys."
While the absences of Prager and Lieberman did not help the Tigers, they certainly were not the deciding factors. Sophomore attackman Brendan Tierney scored a Prager-esque quickstick goal in the second quarter. In general, Princeton's lack of scoring was caused by the superb play of the Orangemen defense.
While disappointed with the result against the Orangemen, coach Tierney realized that the Tigers accomplished the more important goal this weekend.
"When a kid comes to Princeton, he comes to win Ivy League Championships — the rest is gravy," coach Tierney said.
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